The present invention relates to a mounting system, and more particularly to an energy absorbing mount system for a gas turbine engine auxiliary component.
Gas turbine aircraft engines utilize a turbine fan to draw ambient air into the engine for compression and combustion by the engine. The turbine fan is shrouded by an engine casing. Typically, a variety of auxiliary components such as engine oil tanks, gearboxes, valves, control systems for regulating the engine's operations, and other components are mounted to the engine casing. Various mounting systems mount the auxiliary components to the engine casing.
Conventional mounting systems typically include a plurality of rigid bracket members that are attached between the auxiliary component and the engine casing by a series of shear pins. Such conventional mounting systems may also include isolators that damp the transmission of engine vibratory loads to the auxiliary components during normal loading and operating conditions.
Conventional mounting systems may become subjected to a high degree of shock loading not experienced during normal engine operating conditions. For example, a high shock load may result from a fan-blade out event. A fan-blade out event occurs when a fan-blade breaks off of an engine rotor body as a result of impact with a foreign object. A fan-blade out event results in an imbalance in the engine rotor body which may also cause outward deflection and a rotor body shaft imbalance. Although effective, conventional mount systems are manufactured with relatively heavy and bulky hardware to provide the high strength and durability to resist normal engine operating conditions as well as the high shock loads to prevent separation of the auxiliary components from the engine casing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a mount system for a gas turbine engine auxiliary component that is light in weight, relatively inexpensive to produce, and yet effectively and reliably absorbs a shock load from a fan-blade out event.